On Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:33:18 -0700, Joe
wrote:

On Aug 15, 12:07 pm, " wrote:
... Whats wrong with a lead line and ...sextant.?

...

I was half way to Honolulu from Christmas on a delivery in the 80's
and when we decided to try out the GPS we had borrowed for the
delivery.

Are you sure you were not using a Loran-C...... not a GPS?


I haven't used my sextant since.

That's a shame... They work when everything else fails.

Unfortunately that just isn't so.

Chuck your H.O. Tables over the side and smash your time source with a
hammer and then come back and tell me just how infallible your sextant
is. Oh yes, chuck the hand calculator too so you can do the math with
a pencil.

Then they are all those overcast days when you can't see the sun or
stars and the windy days when you can't stay steady enough to get a
good sight.

I used to use a sextant and if nobody has dropped it so the mirrors
are out of alignment and if you have up to date references and if your
time signal is accurate and if your pencil is still sharp you can get
a cocked hat, maybe a mile on a side so hopefully you are somewhere in
that triangle.

As for a lead line it is a real handy devices when you are single
handing up a narrow channel and trying to stay off the mud banks on
each side..



Dont' get me wrong..I like GPS's.. and carry two, and prefer forward
looking sonar to 3 ounces of lead and a dab of wax.

Joe


On a good day when
everything goes just right a sextant, chronometer and tables can be
used to tell you about where you were an hour ago... From time to
time there are big gaps between the good days and the navigator
typically will rely on a compass, chrono and log to get DRs and EPs at
those times... A lead line is nice, but it requires a full time
operator and a slow boat... But, you don't really NEED even those.
There are several voyaging societies around the Pacific that send
their canoes off on long passages without any instruments and there
are intermediate steps you could take like kamals and cross staffs.
So, cast off you goretex, wrap yourself in tree bark and set out in an
open boat for a distant shore and I will read you memoirs in awe.
Meanwhile I will quest for just the right mid layer to keep me
pleasantly warm and dry while I monitor my progress on my gps and I
will be content if my logs make for placid reading...

-- Tom.


Bruce in Bangkok
(brucepaigeATgmailDOTcom)